Shattered Promises 2: Picking Up The Pieces
by JulieM
Summary: Set after the events of SP1: Things Fall Apart. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Shattered Promises 2: Picking Up The Pieces.

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended by this series, which is being done solely for recreational purposes. JAG and all of its characters are the property of Don P. Bellisario et al.

No profit is being made from this series.

I'd really appreciate any feedback you wish to give me!

Author's note: This piece is part of a series that consists of twelve parts;

Things Fall Apart.

2. Picking Up The Pieces.

3(a & b.) Starting Over.

4. Getting It Right.

5. Getting To Know You.

6. Happy Endings.

7. Sleepless Night

8. See You In My Dreams.

9. Scattered Photographs.

Dreams Really Do Come True.

Celebrations.

Turning Full Circle.

This part deals with Catriona settling back into family life.

Author's note to all of you out there on this side of the Atlantic (UK): When I refer to 'pants pocket,' I mean trouser pocket, not underpants pocket! All you Brits will know what I mean! US readers, just carry on! BTW, do they actually sell underpants with pockets? (Just musing to myself here!)

Classifictaion: Adventure, angst, tiny bit of UST (Planning on some Harm/Mac shipperiness, later on in the series.)

Part 1

0830 Zulu

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church, Vriginia

Mac was in her office, just hanging up the phone when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Harm popped his head around the door.

"Hey there, sailor, come on in."

"You ready for court?"

"Yeah, just give me a second."

Mac proceeded to pack her notes on the case into her briefcase.

"So, did you hear from Catriona yesterday?" Harm asked her.

"Yeah, she gave me a call last night, but she couldn't talk long. She said that her Mom is still a little uncomfortable about her speaking in Russian and Farsi to me on the phone. She said her Mom probably thinks we are plotting her escape!"

"Yeah well, they're still not used to having a teenager in the house. She is an only child," Harm pointed out.

"Yeah, that's what I told her," said Mac, "Okay, I'm ready. Cathy said that she might stop by later."

"That's great, but since when did you call her Cathy?"

"It's the only thing she and her parents will agree on. She's agreed to change her name to Carter, but whenever her parents address her as Catherine, she won't answer them…"

"So they compromised on Cathy," Harm finished for her.

"Yeah, but she wouldn't tell me why she wouldn't agree to add Catherine to her name. Her parents wanted her to take Catherine as a middle name. All she did was laugh hysterically when I said that it didn't sound like such a bad idea."

"That's because Catriona is the Gaelic form of Catherine. My Mom told me, the last time I spoke to her. That would make Catriona 'Catherine Catherine Carter.' Hey! C.C. Carter!"

"Oh my God!" Mac laughed at her own mistake, "No wonder she laughed so hard! She actually fell out of her seat!"

With that, Harm and Mac headed for the elevator, still chuckling to themselves.

OOOO

Catriona exited the elevator and apprehensively walked into the bullpen, looking around for Harm or Mac, anxiously. All she saw were staring, curious faces, staff members who obviously recognized her. She was about to turn around and walk back into the elevator, when Gunny startled her as he approached he from behind.

"Sorry Ma'am, are you looking for someone? Maybe I could help you find them?"

Catriona relaxed as the attractive gunnery sergeant gave her a reassuring smile.

"Umm, I was just looking for Major MacKenzie or Commander Rabb. But I'm a bit early for meeting them, I came straight from school…"

"I think I'll take it from here, Gunny," said Admiral AJ Chegwidden, approaching them, "Hi Miss Carter, my name's AJ. I'm Harm and Mac's Commanding Officer. I'm afraid that Harm and Mac are still in court at the moment. But why don't you come into my office? Perhaps you can show me what they're teaching you kids in school, these days?"

"Do you know anything about the Vietnam War?" Catriona asked him.

"Do I! I think that this will be the start of a beautiful friendship!" AJ chuckled.

OOOO

Half an hour later, Lieutenant Bud Roberts entered the Admiral's office, to report that Harm and Mac had been detained in court. However, the Admiral was busy making a long distance call on the telephone. Catriona was sitting on the office couch, absorbed in her history book. Bud took a seat at the desk, at the Admiral's request and watched as his superior peered through the blinds. He then turned back to Bud and indicated that Harm and Mac had just pulled up outside. As Bud rose to go, the Admiral spoke up to the person on the other end of the line, in Italian. Bud paused, then realizing that it was probably his daughter that the Admiral was speaking to, turned to go.

"No Francesca…I'm sure that the show will be great…Of course, I'm very proud of you. Fashion shows just aren't really my thing. Besides, all of your friends will view an old man like me, hanging around you young'uns as kinda…oh, I don't know…kinda…" he searched for the right word in Italian to use.

"Pathetic?" Catriona suggested to him, in Italian.

Bud froze and the Admiral raised his eyebrows, before bursting out laughing. After saying goodbye to Francesca and hanging up, the Admiral turned to Catriona, still chuckling.

"Come here," he told her.

She walked over to him, then perched herself on the desk.

"So you know Farsi, Russian, English, French, Swahili and Italian?" he asked her, incredulously.

"Yes, Sir," she replied, non-plussed.

"Any more languages in there that we should know about?" he joked.

"Just a couple, Sir," she replied, seriously.

AJ and Bud's jaws dropped at that moment, as they stood motionless, flabbergasted.

OOOO


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry, this is just a short part today...Will make it up to you tomorrow!

OOOOOOO

Part 2

As Harm and Mac entered the bullpen, they kept an eye out for Cathy. After they didn't see her, they caught the attention of Gunny, who was passing by.

"Hey Gunny, we were meant to be meeting someone, about half-an hour ago, but we got detained in court. You haven't happened to see anyone, have you? Blond young girl, about 4" 12', 16 years old…"

"Miss Carter arrived early for your meeting, but the Admiral took her into his office to talk to her, while they waited for you court date to finish. They're waiting for you."

After Tiner had instructed them to go straight in, they walked into the Admiral's inner office, to find Bud in there, with Admiral Chegwidden and Catriona.

"Hi Cathy!" Mac smiled at the girl, who was perched on the Admiral's desk, with a sheet of paper in her hands. Cathy just grinned at Harm and Mac, not revealing what she had been up to.

"Sorry, Sir," Harm and Mac apologized to the Admiral, " Our court session got held up."

"No automatic riffles involved, I hope," AJ quipped back.

Harm flushed a shade of red as he replied, "No, of course not, Sir."

"Good! Carry on then."

Harm and Mac went over to say hello to Cathy, then noted, "I see you've already met Cathy, Sir, Lieutenant."

"Yes, she delightful," AJ reported, "I've never met anyone who could take half an hour of my horror stories from 'nam and come back for more."

Harm and Mac just smiled. They had been sure that Bud and AJ would like Cathy.

"By the way, Commander, Major," AJ mentioned, off-hand, "You never told me that young Miss Carter here has such a talent for languages."

"I'm sorry," Harm apologized, confused, "I thought we had included Catriona's proficiency in Russian, English, French and Swahili in our report…"

"And Italian and Portuguese and Spanish," Bud added.

Harm and Mac's heads spun round to look at Catriona, who nodded in verification.

"You never said that you were fluent in seven languages, " Mac finally came up with.

"You never asked," Cathy justified, but adding, "I'm not quite fluent in Farsi and Swahili, though."

When Harm and Mac thought about it, again, it probably wasn't such an unusual thing that Cathy knew Spanish, Italian and Portuguese as well, for she had spent as much time in those countries as anywhere else.

"How about we go out for dinner, tonight," Mac suggested, "Perhaps you could tell us a bit more about all of those talents you seem to have! I could ask your parents if it's alright…"

"It should be, it's not a school night," Cathy pondered, "Thanks! Dinner sounds great!"

OOOOOOO


	3. Chapter 3

OOOOOOO

Part 3.

After dinner at McMurphy's bar, Harm and Mac nervously sat avoiding the subject that they had been thinking about, ever since their departure from the USS Watertown. At first, avoiding the subject hadn't been a conscious thing for Harm, because his larynx had been bruised, making any speech impossible. Now, as he sat opposite Mac, he could see that she was thinking the same thing as he was, that they had to deal with in at some point. Catriona was over by the bar, playing on the pinball machine, having great success if the bells and sirens going off at regular intervals were any indication. It was just he and Mac, now, Harm supposed. But as he opened his mouth to speak, Mac beat him to the punch.

"I know, Harm, I know. We need to talk about this, don't we?"

Harm just nodded, starting, "Mac…" at exactly the same time as she said, "Harm…"

"Sorry," he apologized then gestured for her to go first.

"Harm, I know what you've been wanting to say, all this time, but a fact is a fact. Yes, the Watertown was awful, but being in our line of work, we're likely to go through that again and maybe even much worse…"

Here, Harm went to object, but Mac silenced him with a wave of her hand.

"No, let me finish…However, whatever we go through and whenever it comes, I know that we'll deal with it the same way we always deal with these sorts of events."

They both locked eyes over the empty dinner plates that the waitress had yet to clean up.

"Together," they both finished in unison.

Harm and Mac held their locked gaze for a few seconds, then Harm brought his hand across the tabletop, to place it on top of Mac's, giving it a comforting squeeze. At that moment, Mac realized that the bells and sirens from the corner had ceased. Both officers looked over to see Catriona smiling silently to herself, watching them.

"Sorry," she told them, "I ran out of quarters."

"You want some more?" Harm offered her, starting to take the change out of his pants pocket.

"Oh, no thanks, I've already taken up all of the places on the top ten score board."

Both Harm and Mac looked over to the machine to see that this was true.

"How did you manage that?" Harm asked Catriona, "I've been trying to get onto that thing for the past three months!"

Catriona just giggled, while Mac smiled, amused.

"So, Mac tells me that you're going down to Florida for Independence Day. Are you looking forward to meeting your relatives?"

"Oh yeah, I've got ten cousins on my Dad's side and a lot of them are around my age. My parents don't get to see the family a lot, but since this is my first July 4th back at home, they've arranged a big get-together."

"What about your Mom's side? Are they going to be there?" Mac asked.

"My Mom only has one brother who lives about four hours away from us, but she hasn't seen him in years. He's kind of the black sheep of the family. Mom sent him an invitation, but she doesn't expect that he'll be there."

"I'm sure that you'll still have a great time," Mac assured her.

Catriona nodded emphatically.

"I'm sure that I will."

"Hey, you guys know what'll make this great night even better?" Harm asked

Catriona and Mac. They both took one look at him and laughed, "ICE CREAM!"

0255 Zulu

Mac's apartment

Georgetown.

Mac sat bolt upright in bed as the scream reverberated in her ears.

"Wow," she thought to herself, "What a nightmare!"

As she waited for her heart to stop racing, she took a gulp from the glass of water that was on her bedside table and then finally settled back down in bed.

"It's alright," she told herself, "It was just a dream. Catriona's just fine in Florida with her parents."

Mac closed her eyes again and went back to sleep.

OOOO

The Third of July dawned surprisingly overcast and chilly as Mac pulled her coat tighter around herself before daring to climb out of her car and brave the early morning drizzle. After she had made her way into the bullpen, she gladly accepted the cup of coffee that Gunny offered her as she rushed towards the meeting room. She would be late as it was, but it would not do for the Chief or Staff to look disorganized as well, which is why she had forgone the usual news reports on the TV and radio that morning and settled for sorting through all of her current case files, to make sure that everything was in order. As she entered the meeting room, she scanned the places around the large table, to see that the Admiral had still not arrived.

She took her usual place at the table, beside Harm and discussed the case they had just finished together, while remarking how unusual it was for the Admiral to be late to work.

"Well, it's probably just the rainy weather that's holding him up," Mac dismissed, "I just narrowly missed getting caught in the huge back-up on the beltway."

A few minutes later, the Admiral swept into the room, looking extremely flustered.

Before anyone could get to their feet and salute him, the Admiral interrupted, "I've got some rather important matters to deal with, right now. Agent Clayton Webb is on the phone, so I'm going to have to postpone our staff meeting until another time. Commander Rabb, Major MacKenzie, please would you follow me to my office, I'm afraid this is very serious."

At the grim look on AJ's face, Harm and Mac quickly followed him to his office, asking no questions. The Admiral paused, not exactly sure how to proceed.

After picking up the phone and putting Clayton Webb onto the speakerphone, he continued, "Harm, Mac? Webb called me after it happened…I assume that neither of you has happened to tune into the news this morning?"

Both officers paled after hearing their CO use their first names, answering him with a simple shake of their heads. At this point, AJ could not speak, so Clay took over, tentatively.

"Harm, Mac, I'm so sorry…At three o'clock this morning, Miami was hit by an unexpected, grade 5 hurricane."

"That's where the Carters are!" Mac gasped.

"Has there been any contact from the family, Webb?" Harm demanded.

"The whole area has been devastated, there are hardly any houses left standing. So far, the entire Carter family has been declared either dead or missing."

At this, Mac visibly flinched, swaying slightly. Harm stepped in to steady her. Once she had recovered from the initial shock, the Admiral continued in a gentler tone,

"Mac, Harm. Admiral Carter is dead. So are 18 members of his family. Catriona, Mrs. Carter and Catriona's cousin Randy Carter are still missing, but so far, it doesn't look good."

"As soon as I hear any news, I'll let you guys know," Clay promised them before hanging up. Harm did his best to comfort Mac, who by this time was sobbing in his arms, regardless of their Commanding Officer, who was buzzing through to Tiner to get some coffee prepared. After bringing the coffee through and being informed of the situation, Tiner made his way through to the conference room, where the rest of the staff was still seated. After learning of the terrible news, all of the staff members joined hands around the table to pray for the safety of the remaining members of the Carter family and all of those families affected by the hurricane.

OOOOOOO


	4. Chapter 4

OOOOOOO

Part 4.

Mac sat at her desk, numb with shock, unable to concentrate on anything other than praying for Catriona's safety. It had been 6 hours since Clay had called to break the news that Randy Carter's body had been found, three miles from the site of the house. And they still had not found Catriona or her Mom, despite scouring the neighborhood. A quiet knock sounded at the door and Harm came in to tell Mac that the Admiral had excused them for the day.

"How about we go back to my place? We could order a pizza?"

"Uh, I don't think so. I want to be here, in case Clay phones," Mac replied, trying one last time to make some progress on the case report she had been working on all morning. After a few minutes, she realized that it was obviously a lost cause and threw down her pen. Harm, who was still in her office, opened her office door as she grabbed her cover and briefcase.

After entering the bullpen, Mac turned to Harm and told him, "Before we go, let's just let Tiner know that we'll be at your place, in case Clay calls with any news."

Harm nodded and they turned to go see Tiner before they left for Harm's apartment.

1355 Zulu,

North of Union Station,

Washington D.C.

The drive to Harm's apartment passed in silence and upon entering his place, Mac collapsed onto the couch, physically and emotionally exhausted.

"You want something to drink?" Harm asked her.

"I'll just have some mineral water," she told him then confessed, "I've never needed a good stiff drink more than I do now."

"That's the last thing you need, right now," Harm told her from the kitchen, "We'll get through this together, like we always do."

Upon returning to the living room, he saw that Mac was curled up on the couch, weeping quietly. He sat down beside her and pulled her in towards him, resting his chin on top of her head and stroking her hair gently, until she began to calm.

Reaching over to his radio, he flipped on the radio. Strains of the number 11 song in the Top US Chart filled the room, as Harm rose to his feet and held his hand out to Mac. She took it and Harm pulled her into his arms once more, wrapping his arms her waist. Mac wrapped her arms around Harm's neck and buried her head in his shoulder as they swayed slowly to the beat of the music, losing themselves in the lyrics…

OOOO

Harm and Mac woke to darkness by the ringing of the phone. Mac was curled up in Harm's arms in the end corner of the couch. Mac reached over and grabbed the phone, almost knocking it off the table in her haste. Harm took it from her and she was about to protest when she realized that it probably wasn't the smartest thing to answer the phone in Harm's apartment, late at night, especially if it happened to be the Admiral on the other end.

She let out a sigh as Harm answered the person on the other end of the line.

"No, Mom, there hasn't been any news, yet. Yes, I'm sure Mac'll be glad to hear that. Thanks Mom, I'll let you know, as soon as we hear from Clay…all right, then… Bye Mom."

He turned to Mac after hanging up the phone.

"Mom asked me to tell you that she and Frank are praying for Catriona and her Mom. She says that she'll be by the phone, if you'd like to give her a call, if you want to talk."

Mac smiled appreciatively, snuggling back into Harm's arms and closing her eyes.

"I'd just like to wait for a while, until we know for sure…I don't want to tie up the phone lines."

Harm nodded understandingly. Just then, the phone rang again and Mac felt her stomach drop. Harm grabbed the phone after the second ring.

"Rabb," he answered.

"Harm, it's AJ. I've got Clay with me."

Harm heard Clay distinctly in the background and realized that the Admiral must be talking on the speakerphone.

"What's the verdict, AJ? Is Cathy okay?" he asked, fear in the pit of his stomach.

"She's okay, Harm. She isn't hurt. A motorist found her walking dazed down the side of an interstate highway, six-miles from where the house was."

Harm quickly relayed this to Mac, who released a sigh of relief.

"And Mrs. Carter, Sir?"

"She's dead, Harm. They found her in debris nearby. Apparently, Catriona was with her when she died. Admiral And Mrs. Carter's bodies are being brought back to Washington D.C. for a full military burial. Catriona's being MedEvaced to Bethesda for a precautionary check up. She's probably already there. Webb and I are about to leave for the hospital."

"Mac and I will meet you there, Sir," Harm told him, before hanging up. He and Mac changed out of their work uniforms, Mac donning one of Harm's Navy sweatshirts and a pair of sweatpants. On the journey to the hospital, she impatiently drummed her fingers on the dashboard, while Harm pushed the speed limit, finally giving in and revving the engine.

0134 Zulu

Naval Hospital

Bethesda, Maryland

By the time that they got to the main reception, Mac was frantic, so Harm tried to get her to calm down, while he talked to the nurses on reception. They told Harm and Mac that Catriona was down in the ER, after been checked out and treated for cuts and scrapes. Harm and Mac rushed down to the ER, where AJ, Clay and Bud met them. They told Harm and Mac that they had checked both the ER reception and the waiting room, but had not found Catriona. Mac pushed her way through the emergency room crowd, searching for Cathy, frantic about what state she would find the girl in.

OOOOOOO


	5. Chapter 5

OOOOOOO

Part 5

As Mac rounded the corner, she saw the small figure sitting slumped against the wall of the deserted hallway. Cathy's hair was knotted and tangled and she wore a pair of scrubs that the nurse on duty had obviously lent her. She had her knees brought in towards her and her head hung down low. By the time that Mac had reached her,

The young girl had still not looked up. Mac gently lifted her head, placing her hands on either side of her face, but saw no spark of recognition in the girl's clouded eyes.

"Cathy," Mac tried to reach her, "Cathy, it's me, it's Mac, honey. Cathy, sweetheart, please can you look at me?"

Catriona seemed to stir at that moment, as her glazed eyes began to clear.

"Mac?"

Mac scooped the girl into her arms and held her tight.

"It's okay, sweetie, I've got you. I promise I'll never leave you."

As she cradled the girl in her arms, Harm, Bud, Clay and AJ came round the corner and saw that Mac had found Catriona.

They each approached the two sobbing figures and offered their own words of comfort. Once Cathy had managed to calm down, Harm told her, "The nurses said that you're free to go. We'll get you into a nice warm bed and just take things from there. We're going to be with you every step of the way."

Catriona nodded and, with Harm and Mac's help, raised herself unsteadily to her feet. Once they had managed to get her steady and comfortable on her feet, a nurse approached them and asked them to sign a couple of final forms.

"I'm afraid that Nurse Amy is going to need her scrubs back," she added, "You can leave them at the front desk. They'll get passed back to her."

As Harm and Mac read over and signed the forms, Cathy began to strip off the scrubs, revealing a pair of ruined, pale blue flannelette pajamas. Suddenly, as Cathy looked down at herself, she gasped in shock.

Harm, Mac, AJ, Bud and Clay turned around to her and were immediately startled by what they saw. The entire front of Catriona's pajama top was saturated by caked, mostly dry blood.

"My God, Cathy!" Mac exclaimed in alarm, "You're bleeding!"

"It's not mine…" Cathy whispered, staring at herself in shock, as if seeing it for the first time. Her hands moved down the front of her shirt, as if trying to wipe the sticky mess of blood from herself. She began to panic as some of the semi-congealed blood smeared across her hands. Started to hyperventilate as she tried frantically to wipe them clean, but just succeeded in getting more blood on them. Mac took a couple of steps towards Catriona, but the girl backed away from her and turned to lean against the wall, her eyes brimming with tears. Finally giving into them, she told the helpless group:

"Everyone was asleep when it hit the area. We didn't stand a chance. It was still dark when the hurricane hit the house, nobody knew what was happening or what to do…they just started screaming."

Putting her hands over her ears, she whimpered, "I can still hear them," and everyone in the corridor was chilled by her words.

"When I woke up, Mom was lying next to me and she was bleeding really bad. I couldn't get it to stop and she was just crying. She couldn't move or breath properly, she was pinned under all of this rubble…all I could do was hold her. She made me promise to go and find help and then she stopped breathing."

By this point, Cathy had broken down in Mac's arms, both of them falling to the floor. Tears were streaming down everyone's faces and both Harm and Mac sat slumped against the wall, cradling Catriona in between them. Clay, AJ and Bud moved away to allow the trio some privacy. Taking a seat down the hall, AJ rubbed his tired, gritty eyes with his thumb and forefinger.

"It's been a long day," Clay surmised, simply.

"Yeah," AJ and Bud agreed with him. They sat in relative silence, until Harm approached them, still visibly upset and with red, bloodshot eyes.

"We're going to take Catriona back to Mac's place and get her settled. I'll give you all a call later, once we've all settled down for the night."

After walking away a couple of steps, Bud turned back and told Harm, "Sir, if there's anything at all that Harriet and I can do, please do not hesitate to call us, day or night."

Harm smiled at Bud's use of the term 'sir' despite the fact that they were away from work, then thanked him, reassuring him that he'd give him a call later that night. He then returned to Mac and Catriona, who had plunged into an exhausted sleep, in Mac's embrace. Harm carefully lifted Catriona from her and both of them walked out of the Emergency Room entrance to Harm's car.

OOOOOOO


	6. Chapter 6

OOOOOOO

Part 6

0330 Zulu,

Mac's apartment,

Georgetown.

Harm stood at Mac's kitchen counter, talking to his Mom on the phone, while Mac helped Catriona get ready for a shower. Harm informed Trish of the situation and told her that the funerals would be held on the following Tuesday.

"Will they be buried in Arlington, dear?" Trish asked her son.

"Yeah, Admiral and Mrs. Carter were meant to get a full military burial, but in accordance with Admiral Carter's wishes, it will be a quiet, private ceremony. Each family will be cremated and buried together in one plot, because each member of the family had purchased a plot. It was a family agreement and each one had it recorded in their will," Harm told her.

"That poor girl," Trish sighed, "How is she?"

"She hasn't spoken since we got back from the hospital. She slept the whole way home. Mac's just helping her to get sorted for a shower."

"How are the two of you coping? Is Mac okay?" Trish probed, gently.

"Oh, we're just getting on with things. I think we've just switched onto autopilot. We were invited to Bud and Harriet's tomorrow, but I don't think any of us will get much sleep tonight."

"Oh, Harmon," his Mother exclaimed, "You're going to have so much on your hands, you and Mac. Please, let me come to Washington and help you out, even if it's just for with the funeral arrangements."

"Mom," Harm interrupted, "that really isn't necessary. Mac and I have the Roberts and the Admiral to help us out."

"Please Harmon," she insisted, "I can't just sit here knowing that poor child has to bury her whole family and not offer some help…Please?"

"Okay," Harm relented, "perhaps we could do with some help on the day of the funerals. Thanks."

OOOO

Meanwhile, Mac was in the bedroom sorting out something for Cathy to wear. Cathy had been in the shower for over twenty minutes, but the noise of the shower spray indicated that she was still not ready to come out yet. Mac tapped on the door, concerned.

"Cathy, sweetheart? Are you okay in there?"

Upon getting no answer, Mac cautiously peered round the bathroom door. Cathy was curled up on the floor of the shower, crying her eyes out. Mac went in and turned the water off, then wrapped a towel around Cathy as she tried to console her.

OOOO

Harm had finally gotten off the phone, after calling his Mom, The Admiral, Webb and the Roberts to let them know that he, Mac and Catriona were set up for the night. After clearing up a couple of things, then making up a bed for himself on the couch, Harm cautiously looked into the bedroom to see what Mac and Cathy were up to. He saw that they were sound asleep in bed, Cathy in Mac's warm embrace and dressed in her Marine Corps tee shirt. Harm smiled to himself then retired to the couch, preparing himself for a night filled with inevitable disturbances.

1300 Zulu

Roberts residence.

Roslyn, Virginia.

As predicted, all concerned had a bad night, with Cathy waking up from nightmares at regular intervals. Harm and Mac had tried their best to comfort her, but she was inconsolable and eventually, the three of them had fallen into an exhausted sleep on the living room couch. They didn't get to the Robert's house until past one o'clock the next day and despite the warm greeting and friendly atmosphere, a somber mood had settled on the celebration. Mac stood in the kitchen as she and Harriet watched Cathy through the doorway, sitting on the stairs and staring off into oblivion.

"I'm sorry we've put a damper on your party, Harriet," Mac began, but was swiftly admonished.

"Oh Mac, don't ever apologize for this. We would never expect anyone to be happy and cheerful after all this has happened. Lord knows, there isn't an awful lot for that poor child to be happy about."

They both continued to watch the lone figure on the staircase, who looked like her entire world had come crashing down around her.

OOOO

Harm sat in conversation with Bud in the living room.

"So all of the Carter family will be buried here in D.C.?" Bud asked Ham, while flicking through channels on the TV.

Yeah," Harm replied, "the family owned five burial plots in Arlington so each family will be cremated and buried together."

"How is Cathy taking everything?" Bud asked him.

"Oh, she's lost Bud. Every time I look in her eyes, they seem like they're empty. It's like she's not there anymore. All last night, she woke up screaming from the nightmares. I don't think she'll ever get the pieces put back in order again. She'd only just got them put together."

Bud nodded in sympathy.

"I know…it seems so cruel. It's just not fair that she's lost her family again, after just getting them back."

As Harm nodded in agreement, Bud exclaimed, "Twenty members of the same family! It would be more than I could bare."

OOOO

Trish and Frank arrived in D.C. on the Monday morning to help Harm, Mac and Catriona through the funeral. After they had gotten settled into their hotel suite, they made their way over to Mac's apartment, to see if they could offer some help, even if it was only to prepare lunch and give Harm and Mac a rest.

Mac opened the door and was immediately enveloped in Trish's motherly embrace.

"Mac, Darling, you look positively shattered," she sympathized then went to see her son, who was sitting down in the living room.

"We didn't get a lot of sleep last night," Mac explained, as she turned to greet Frank.

She thanked him as she took the newspaper from him, which he had picked up from outside the front door. She sighed as she read the headlines then turned and dropped it into the nearest drawer and turned back to the group seated in the living room.

"Front page again?" Harm asked her, to which she nodded.

Just then, her earlier remark was punctuated by a loud, piercing scream, which came from the bedroom. Mac stood up once more and went in to get Cathy calmed and back to sleep.

0735 Zulu

Arlington National Cemetery,

Arlington, Virginia.

The week had been spent getting arrangements made, ready for the funeral. Trish and Frank's help proved to be invaluable and Harm and Mac didn't know what they would have done without them.

Catriona still wasn't sleeping any better and by the time Tuesday rolled around, she was simply a walking shell, performing all of the needed functions like a robot.

Tuesday dawned rainy and cold and Catriona stood at her parent's graveside, as her whole family was put to rest, Harm and Mac at her side.

Also present were Bud and Harriet Roberts, AJ Chegwidden, the rest of the JAG staff and Trish and Frank. Even Clayton Webb managed to make it to the wake, held after the funeral service, at the Robert's house. Within a few hours, people were starting to make their way home and Cathy was falling asleep in one of the seats placed out in the living room for all of the guests. Harm had suggested that maybe they should be getting home, so that Cathy would be able to get some sleep before the night-time terrors started again. Mac, Trish and Frank made their way through to the kitchen, to thank Bud and Harriet, where the couple was stacking up all of the dirty dishes that had been used to serve the food. Meanwhile, Harm stayed in the living room, to thank all of the guests who were bidding their last farewells, before leaving to go home. While Harm was saying goodbye to the Admiral, Carolyn Imes and Alan Mattoni, Catriona woke up and stood from her chair, seeing everyone about to leave. Mac, Harriet, Bud, Trish and Frank were just walking through from the kitchen and saw Cathy turn and grab her jacket from her chair. While turned around, Cathy caught sight of the photograph displayed on the fireplace and surrounded with flowers. Clayton Webb had somehow managed to get hold of it, probably through his connections with many of the friends and business acquaintances of Admiral Carter. The picture portrayed the majority of the Carter family, only excluding the one, greatly missed child who was still nowhere to be found, at the time when the picture had been taken. All of the adult Carter brothers and sisters were standing in the back row, with their respective spouses. The older children were standing in the middle row, all arranged with the tallest in the middle and the next smallest to the sides of the row. The younger children were in the front row. The smallest child was only a baby in arms and she was seated on the knee of an older child. The middle row was noticeably shorter than the others, because it should have had, in a fair and just world, one more child in it.

Catriona remained frozen as she took in this last, suddenly vaporizing image of what should portray her future and her past. The fact that all this was now completely gone was driven home to her, with previously unrivaled clarity.

As he saw the jacket slip from Cathy's grip, Harm stepped away from where he stood with the Admiral.

"Sweetie?" he asked, gently, putting a hand on Cathy's shoulder, "Are you okay?"

Cathy turned around with shocked, tear filled eyes. She could only shake her head as the flood barriers opened and a torrent of emotional devastation burst forth. She raised her hands to cover her face as she began to sob as she never had before.

Harm could only pull her into a sympathetic hug, as all of the helpless people around them looked on.

OOOO

Now, Catriona lay exhausted on Mac's couch after a long week, which had passed in a blur. As the blur began to clear, Catriona realized that she would somehow have to gather up the pieces of her shattered world as best as she could and move on with her life.

Not long later, Cathy was assigned a social worker, whose name was Chris. She would meet with Cathy, Harm and Mac once a week and to check on how Cathy was getting on.

However, one day, she came over to break the bad news that the family courts had decided to place Cathy in her maternal Uncle's home. All three sat in shock, speechless. Tears began to drip down Cathy's face and she stood up from the couch, walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind her. Harm and Mac made no move to stop her.

"Why do we have to do this?" Harm finally managed to ask Chris.

"Cathy's biological family has the first right to apply for guardianship," the sympathetic women explained, "The court will not even accept a non –family member's application, if there are blood relations who have not refused the right to guardianship. The decision of the court is always final…Harm, Mac, I'm so sorry, but we have no other choice but to accept this…"

"When will we have to do this?" Mac asked, but not really looking forward to the answer.

"In a few weeks time. First of all, now that Mr. Davidson has made his application for guardianship to the court, another social worker will go over to his house, to make sure that he and his girlfriend are suitable guardians. So far, all of the preliminary checks have turned out fine. But I can assure you, Cathy will only be placed in their home if they are 100 suitable."

Both Harm and Mac nodded and half-heartedly talked through the rest of the details with Chris, who left soon afterwards. Harm and Mac just stayed sitting on the couch, tired and defeated.

After talking Cathy around, they set about making arrangement, including a preliminary meeting with Cathy's Uncle, Jim Davidson. Although Cathy did participate in all of these events, she did not like nor agree with what was happening at all. But despite all of Cathy's misgivings, everything in the process of appointment of her guardianship to her Uncle went smoothly.

1221 Zulu

JAG Headquarters,

Falls Church, Virginia.

As Cathy, Harm and Mac sat outside, waiting for Jim Davidson to come and pick her up, three weeks later, she remained silent while Harm and Mac were trying to reassure her. She was not convinced in the slightest, so spoke up, "But why can't I stay with you guys? You promised, you said you'd never leave me…"

"We never will," Mac insisted, "We'll always be here, whenever you need us. But the court has said that you have to go live with your Uncle. We don't have any say in this, Cathy, but we will promise you that we'll always be around when you need us..."

"But you'll miles away! Jim lives four hours away from here! I don't want to leave D.C…My family are buried here…all my friends at JAG are here…you guys are here! How can they say I have to uproot my life like this?"

"I don't know, sweetie, but Jim is the only blood relative you have left. He wants you to go and live with him…"

"What sort of a man would want a sixteen year old teenager to come live with him?"

"You have to remember, Cathy," Harm pointed out, " Jim's lost a family member, too. Your Mom was his sister. Maybe he feels that you're his last link to her. In any case, he's determined to take as good care of you as possible. There's no need for you to worry, Mac and I will be here, anytime you need us. As soon as you're settled, Mac and I will be on the first bus up to visit you."

"How long will that be, until you can come and see me?" Cathy asked them.

"Chris has suggested that we give you a few months to settle down…"

"A FEW MONTHS!" Cathy exclaimed.

"After that, we can come and see you as often as we want," Harm, reasoned.

"Besides," Mac added, "that doesn't mean that we can't write and talk on the phone."

Cathy put her head in her hands and lamented, "I'm so tired of getting shifted around!"

At that moment, the entire JAG staff came out to wish Cathy well and her Uncle pulled up and got out of his car to approach the group. He was a young man, only in his late thirties and Harm had found that he really was a likeable man. This made Harm and Mac feel at least a little bit better about handing Cathy over. For her part, Mac couldn't help feel a bit guilty, like she was somehow breaking the promise she had made to Cathy. However, as Harm had pointed out to her, Jim Davidson was her only other living blood relative and the courts had deemed him more than capable of taking care of Catriona. What was most important now was to do what was best for Cathy, so she would spend the rest of her young life in a stable home environment. As Cathy hugged Harm and Mac goodbye, she began to sob uncontrollably and both parties got more and more upset, so Cathy's bags were stowed away and Jim ushered her into his car. After thanking Harm and Mac, Jim turned and got back into his car, Cathy seated in the front passenger seat next to him.

"You all strapped in, ready to go?" he asked her. She nodded. With that, Jim released the handbrake and the car began to pull away. Cathy leaned against the window and waved goodbye to the crowd outside JAG Headquarters. Neither Harm nor Mac stopped waving until the car was through the security checkpoint and out of sight. Afterwards, Harm slipped a comforting arm around Mac's shoulders as the group returned to the building, to get back to work.

OOOOOOO

Posting of the next SP part will begin tomorrow; 'SP 3a: Starting Over.'


End file.
